Bay 12 Games Forum

Slightly outdated, but still relevant: http://puu.sh/5Q6UL.png

EDIT: Notable differences, psychologist office, some maint expansions, cargonia has been changed, lounges in Science and Medbay, changed toxins test range, arrivals is tweaked a bit, hydroponics was reworked... And some other random stuff I'm forgetting.

Thankee, that'll be useful!

Just asked because I saw one on a gateway mission

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.  Back up.

The gateway works these days? 

Man, I've been away for a while.

Hi All,

you all know, there are plenty alternatives to DF (Towns, Gnomoria, RimWorld, TimberAndStone, etc.), which are trying to have a piece of this big "complex-manager-god-sim"-pie. But I think all their efforts are totally useless, because they will just run out of money eventually (buy-once model will not work for such long-development projects) and will never reach depth and complexy of DF.

...

Once some initial playable stage is achieved (I'd say something on goblin-camp level), we launch a funding campaign and distribute the money between main contributors and project managers slowly in time. Then, try to establish a donation model to continue development.

Avoiding the questionable morality of choosing to copy someone else's game for monetary gain, which others have covered:

1) If, as you claim, one of the problems with other DF-inspired games is that they'll run out of money because a "buy-once" model won't sustain them, why would a donation-based model be any more successful, particularly if your donors will be paying for something they can acquire for free (or for an equivalent donation) elsewhere i.e. DF itself?

2) If the projects you've mentioned will "NEVER" reach the complexity of DF, what makes your proposed project different?  What is it about this project that makes you think it will have a better level of complexity than its competitors - particularly since you've said that you find some features of DF are "too deep"?

3) Basically, what do you want the project to be?  Is it a straight DF-clone, community-built and donation funded?  Is it DF but with some complexity stripped out?  What, to use marketing speak, is your Unique Selling Point for this project?

That's ignoring the multiple, manager-level questions that then open up e.g. how do you set your scope, how do you handle the inevitable playerbase fragmentation, etc.

I'm going to have to echo the sentiments of some other posters in this thread - it's unclear why this project would be a positive thing for the community, and a worthwhile investment of time/effort.

(From a personal perspective, I also find the idea of "this guy's ideas are good, I'm going to hire a bunch of people to copy them and then sell them" rather distasteful - which is how your plan is coming across.)

I wish there was a way to downgrade spaceports (or is there, and I've just missed it?)

I let myself get a bit too complacent when the AI was suggesting that I retrofit my ships and bases.  Silly person that I am, I thought "yes, upgrade my three military ships, might as well keep at the front of the tech curve", and forgot that the AI will also retrofit spaceports...and not just small-to-small, either.  It turned my small spaceport into a medium one without me realising (my fault), and then at the next retrofit it turned the medium one into a large!

The maintenance costs absolutely crippled my tiny, age of shadows empire.  By the time I realised, it was too late.  I was in the red financially and heading further in that direction.  A wholehearted 'scrap every ship and base that isn't vital' programme ensued, and got me briefly back into positive figures...but there was no way to downgrade my LSP to a SSP.

So I scrapped it.  Cashflow went positive again, but it did mean I had to sit there for a couple of years while my funds recovered enough to be able to afford a new SSP.

Bloody AI.  (And bloody me not paying enough attention, too.)

Started playing again recently - really getting into it again. 

What's the best (/most efficient/most successful/most fun) way to start up as a pirate in the Age of Shadows?  I've done it before, but floundered a little bit.  Should I be focussing on mining and smuggling (if I'm a smuggler), with a bit of planetary control and limited planetary raiding?  Go all-out on the raiding?  Other?  Thoughts?

I quite like the idea of being a scavenging locust fleet, burning my way from world to world, but the maintenance costs would be punitive for that kind of strategy!  Boarding a lot of ships is tricky for the same reason.

got this and all expansions.

I feel old, and stupid.

Don't worry - you're probably just old! 

I kid.  The learning curve's a bit of a pain at first - there's a lot of different aspects to the game, all working at once.  This is where the automation comes in handy - try to leave as much as possible automated at first, and just semi-ignore it.  Focus on one bit at a time (e.g. learn how to order ships around first, then how to send them places to explore/colonise, then how to build them at your bases, then how to design your own, etc etc).  Baby steps.  It helps that the in-game help is actually quite extensive. 

On another note, the game seems to be very laggy when zooming in and out from sector to local views; is this normal? My computer is a bit of a powerhouse, running most modern games at a good clip, but the choppiness when zooming in and out bugs the hell out of me. Not a deal breaker by any means, though.

Is it lagging, or is it simply that the zoom is, uh, 'granular' rather than smooth, for want of a better phrase?  If it's the latter - yeah, that's normal, it's a bit frustrating but you do get used to it.  If it's actual lag, it might depend on your system.

Friend invite sent.